The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-05-12

years bound hand and foot by evil habits
who have never felt the power of the chair
because they have never tried to break 1t. 1t
is very easy to go on down with the stream
and with the wind, lying on your oars; but
Just turn around and try to go against the
wind and the tide and you will find it differ
ent matter. As long as we go down the cur
rent of our evil habit we seem to get along
quite smoothly, but if after while we turn
around and head the other way, toward
Christ and pardon and heaven, oh, then how
we have to lay to the oars! You all have
your temptation. You have one kind, you
another, you another, not one person escaping.
1t is all folly for you to say to some one:
"I could not be tempted as you are" The
lion thinks it is so strange that the fish should
be caught with hook. The fish thinks it is
so strange that the lion should be caught
with trap You see some man with a cold,
pheglnatic temperament, and you say: Il
suppose that man has not any temptation"
Yes, as much you have In his phlegmatic
nature he has temptation to Incidence and
consciousness and over eating and drinking;
a temptation to ignore the great work of life;
a temptation to lay down an obstacle i'll the
way of all good enterprises. The tempera-
ment decides the styles of temptation; but
sanguine or lymphatic, you will have temp
tatior. Satan has graphing hook just fitted
for your soul A man never lives beyond the
reach of temptation. You say when man
gets to be 20 or so years of age he is safe from
all Satanic assault. You are very much mis-
taken. A man at S5 years of age has as many
temptations as man at 25. They are only
different styles of temptation.
Ask the aged Christian whether he is never
% 49, 4
think you have conquered the power of
temptation, you are very much mistaken.
A man who wanted throne pretended he
was very weak and sickly and if be was
elevated he would soon be gone. He
crawled upon his crutches to the throne, and
having attained it he was strong again. He
said: at was well for me while l was looking
for the scepter of another that l should
stoop, but now that have found it, why
should l stoop any longer?" and he threw
away his crutches and was well again.
How illustrative of the power of tempta-
ton! You think it is a weak and crippled
influence: but give it a chance, and it will be
a tyrant in your soul, it will grind you to
atoms. No man has finally and forever
overcome temptation until he has left the
world. But what are you to do with these
temptations? Tell everybody about thems
All, what a silly man you would bel As
well might a commander in a fort send word
to the enemy which gate of the castle is least
barred as for yoE to go and tell what all
your frailties are and what your temptations
are. The world will only caricature you
will only scoff at you. What then
must a man dos When the wave
strikes him with terrific dash shall
he have nothing to hold on to? In
this contest with "the world, the flesh and the
devil" shall a man have no help, no counsel?
Our text intimates something different In
those eyes that wept with the Bethany sisters
1 see shining hope. In that voice which
spake until the grave broke and the widow of
Main had back her lost son, and the sea slept,
and sorrow stupendous woke up in the
arms of rapture-in that voice I hear the
command and the promise: "Cast thy burden
on the Lord, and he will sustain thee" Why
should you carry your burdens any longer?
Oh, you weary soul, Christ has been i'll this
conflict. He says: "My grace shall be suf-
ficient for you. You shall not be tempted
above that you are able to hear" Therefore,
with all your temptations go as these disciples
did, and tell Jesus.
Again: | commend the behavior of the
disciples to all those who are abused and SLAM
dered and prosecuted When Herod put John
to death, the disciples knew that their own
heads were not safe. And do you know that
every John has Herod? There are persons
in life who do not wish you very well Your
misfortunes are honeycombs to them.
Through their teeth they hiss at you. nlisin-
terpret your motives and would be
glad to see you upset. No man gets
through life without having pummeling.
cIa oFt
huslKed and hoofed, TO gore and tralnple you;
and what are you to do? l tell you plainly
that all who serve Christ must suffer persecu-
tion 1t is the worst sign in the world for
you to be able to say: Il haven't an enemy
in the world" A woe is pronounced in the
Bible against the one of whom everybody
speaks well. If you are at peace with all the
world, and everybody likes you and approves
| your work, it is because you are an idler in
| the lords vineyard, and are not doing your
duty.
All those who have served Christ, however
| eminent, have been maltreated ut some stage
of their experience. You know it was so in
the time of George Whitfield, when he stood
| and invited men into The kingdom of God.
| What did the learned Dr. johnson say to
| hima He pronounced him a miserable mounte-
| bank. How was it when Robert Hall stood
and spoke as scarcely any uninspired man
ever did speak Of the glories of heaven? And
as he stood Sabbath after Sabbath preaching
on these themes his face kinded with the
glory. John Foster, Christian man, said of
this man: "Robert Hall is only acting, and
the smile on his face is a reflection of his own
vanityp John Wesley turned all England
upside down with Christian reform, and yet
the punsters were after him, and the meanest
jokes in England were perpetrated about
John Wesley. What is true of the pulpit is
| true of the pew; it is true of the street, it is
| true of the shop and the store All who will
live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecu-
| tion.
| And | set it down as the very worst sign in
| all your Christian experience, if you are, any
of you, at peace with all the world The re-
ligion of Christ is war. 1t is a challenge tc
"the world the flesh and the DEVIL" and il
you will buckle ON the whole armor of God
you will find a great host disputing youl
path between this and heaven. But what arc
you to do when you are assaulted and Sian
dered and abused, as l suppose nearly all OF
| you have been i'll your life? Go out and hunt
up the slanderer? Oh, no, silly man; while
you are explaining away falsehood in one
place. fifty people will just have heard of il
in other places.
l counsel you to another course. While
you are not to omit any opportunity of set
ting yourselves right, l want to tell you thi
morning of one who had the hardest thing
said about him, whose sobriety was disputed
whose mission was secuted, whose com
panionship was denounced, who was pursued
as a babe and spit upon as a man, who wa
nowled at after he was dead. l will hav,
you go unto him with your bruised soul
in some humble, child prayer, saying: Il SCI
thy wounds-wounds of head, wounds O
feet wounds of heart. Now, look at IN,
wo1nds, and see what l have suffered, anC
through what battles l am going; and
entreat thee, by those wounds of thine, sym
pathize with me' And he will sympathize
and he will help. Go and tell Jesus
Again. l commend the behavior of til
disciples to all who may have been bereaved
How many in garb of mourningi If yo
could stand at this point where 1 am standin
and look Off uptn this audience, how man
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